A unique experience, though it reminded me a little of the movie Climax with Sofia Boutella, but without the drugs, hysteria and violence of course - also without any professional or even good dancing for the most part. The theater-like movie sets the stage for a roster of distinct and memorable characters, but it's rather difficult to keep track of each of them with every time jump and changing role, which consequently makes it hard to flash out a red line of what the movie is trying to say. Thus, Le Bal remains a rather superficial depiction of French modern history with a few strong emotional moments. Unfortunately this movie's high point is right in the middle of the runtime, therefore the second half becomes rather dull.